The hosts had rain drizzles, wet puddles, and some solid batting effort to level the series. This was the story of Day 4 of the second Test between South Africa and India. South Africa made it look very easy and won the match by seven wickets and a day to spare. It is now their highest successful chase and the third-highest by anyone against India.
Dean Elgar – the Man for South Africa
The game favored South Africa when the day ended yesterday, and the pair on strike then maintained the same intent which was seen through the game. While Rassie van der Dussen perished after a brilliant delivery from Shami, his captain made sure to take his team beyond the line.
Dean Elgar and Bavuma built a 68 runs partnership and took the game far away from India’s reach. Finally, South Africa got their first win in six matches against India at Wanderers. Elgar indeed played a captain’s knock, notching 96 runs in 188 balls, making the most of his flicks. Today, he was 88% in control of his bat, bettering Petersen (86%) from their first innings score.
Lack of Venom in Indian bowling
Today was probably the first time that Indian bowling has looked ordinary in one year. With Mohammed Siraj struggling with his hamstring pull and Mohammad Shami in the later stage, it looked like all the fieriness of this bowling unit just went off on the worst probable day. The difference between the two-bowling unit was evident in how the Indian bowling unit turned out today.
India tried everything in the one session they were allowed to bowl today. Even Ashwin, their greatest match-winner in this squad, was called, couldn’t spell some magic today. But ultimately, the random changes they were executing saw their demise, and Elgar just saw through them.
One thing to add here is that the pitch got better to bat as the game progressed with each innings, and ultimately the patience of Proteas captain maximized this offering. Even Bumrah, for whom the pitch was tailor-made, getting hammered for an economy of 4.1 tells enough how ineffective Indians were today.
Series now spiced up.
Yes, India did not have Virat leading them in this Test. But this is not the first time this has happened. They have poured ice on the ‘Gabba’ ego just a year back without him.
Credit to South African solidifies that they won the toss and chose to bat and still came up with this result. However, with such an extraordinary all-around performance by hosts, it’s time India now learns some hard lessons from others and addresses their batting issue.
One cannot deny their meagre showing by the bat in the first innings was the fundamental factor that ultimately hindered their chances today. But, unfortunately, not every time the bowlers are going to save them, and it’s about time the batters pull their socks and liven up this World Test championship.
With the track record of Virat Kohli, it’s about time he bounces back hard and takes his team and makes another statement. Hopefully, his and some of his teammate’s injuries recover before the 11th of January for the third Test.